Publisher: Electric Monkey
Format: Paperback
Published: 8th March 2018
Number of Pages: 352
Book: For Review*
Genre: Contemporary,
Coming-Of-Age, Comedy, YA
Recommended Age: 13+
Contains: Swearing,
Bullying, Drug, Alcohol, Sexual, Suicide References
Author's
Site: Laura Steven
Izzy O’Neill
Impoverished Orphan
Aspiring comedian
Slut extraordinaire – apparently...
Izzy never
expected to be eighteen and internationally reviled. But when photos involving her, a politician’s
son and a garden bench emerge, the trolls set out to take her apart.
Armed
with best friend Ajita and a metric ton of nachos, she must figure out who’s behind
the vicious website – while keeping her sanity intact.
Izzy is
about to find out that the way the world treats girls is not okay.
It’s
the Exact Opposite of Okay.
A novel for anyone who’s ever called
themselves a feminist... and anyone who hasn’t.
Review:
Anyone who knows me is aware that I am a
total fantasy addict. It is insanely rare to find me reading anything set
in the real world that doesn’t include magic, demons or dragons.
But when Egmont sent me The Exact Opposite Of Okay, I was just
instantly intrigued. The cover is adorable and the synopsis just appealed
to the feminist in me. So, of course, I decided to read the first chapter
to check out the story. And then, suddenly, I was eighty pages in, had
forgotten to have a shower and was absolutely hooked!
Because Izzy O’Neill is just a legend.
She might be an orphan and poor as dirt,
but she’s an aspiring comedic legend and prolific blog writer.
Life is pretty okay for Izzy – well, sure,
BFF No 1 has developed a weird crush on her and BFF No 2 seems to be interested
in the new Victorian Secret model, plus Izzy is too broke to go to college.
But other than that!
Until The Night. The one where Izzy
sleeps with two guys at a party – one being the son of a super racist
politician... And pictures are possibly leaked... And, yeah,
things kind of escalate rapidly from there.
But with the help of BFF No 2, Ajita, her
grandmother Betty and a lot of
nachos, Izzy is determined to find whoever is besmirching her good (ish) name
and let the world know that what they’re doing right now? IT IS NOT OKAY.
Seriously, guys. This book. It is a feminist manifesto told in the most fun,
hilarious, addictive way. It is empowering and angering and touching and
did I mention hilarious? It’s a book every teenager should read, girl or
boy. Because the things that happen to Izzy in this book? They
aren’t okay – at all – and they
happen to so many people, especially young and vulnerable girls. And it
just – it made me so angry and upset for Izzy, but somehow this wasn’t an angry
book. It was a book about dealing with revenge porn and bullying and
violation with humour and nachos and pride and panache. And I just – I love it. I love this book so much.
Largely because of Izzy. Izzy is amazing. She is such a brilliant
character – absolutely comfortable with herself and her sexuality, charismatic
and hilarious and brilliantly odd. And then she is absolutely betrayed
and violated by someone, bullied and shamed and teased and judged. And
she’s broken and hurting, but she deals with it so amazingly. She does everything to remain upbeat, even when
she’s dying inside and hiding her pain with humour. Everything she went
through, all the pain and humiliation she felt, it honestly made me cry more
than once. And yet Izzy never failed to make me smile – she’s the kind of
person I would just love to be around. And, yes, she makes mistakes and
sometimes seems flippant or uncaring, but I just loved that about her. I
also loved that she’s honestly one of the strongest characters ever, to deal
with all of this and survive. I don’t know what I’d do in her place, I
really don’t.
Also Ajita is the best friend everyone
should have – that girl’s sass and snark is legendary and I bow before the
Queen. And Betty, Izzy’s grandma? Literally amazing. The
coolest grandmother in the history of ever. I love her. Oh, as for
Meg – Izzy’s classmate who happens to be a wheelchair user... for some reason,
I really loved her. I wonder why...? Hmm... And if you’re
thinking it’s because I’m also called Meg and a wheelchair user, you are only
partly right. Mostly it’s because she’s an absolute sweetheart.
But seriously now. This book might be
so very funny, but it deals with so many sensitive topics with a truly
effortless grace. Revenge porn, slut-shaming, misogyny, classism, racism,
sexism... so many topics that can so easily be too heavy, but they were all
handled with humour that lightened them but also didn’t take away from their
impact. We live in a world where patriarchal dicks are constantly trying
to put restraints on women’s behaviour. As Izzy says, it’s a lose-lose
situation. If women enjoy sex, they’re a slut (a man, however, would just
be a player, a legend). If women don’t want to have sex or refuse to send
nude images, they’re frigid, a tease. Society is still so messed up, even
in this day and age, and the double standards and stupid judgmental idiotic
opinions are just so infuriating.
The
Exact Opposite Of Okay deals with this anger
and hopelessness and frustration beautiful. It was totally empowering and
such a brilliant feminist manifesto that everyone should read. It was
also moving and addictive and fun.
I honestly just loved this book. If
you haven’t gathered. My only complaints are that although the book is
set in America, sometimes Laura’s Britishness definitely showed. And that
maybe Izzy referred to herself as a ‘poor orphan’ a little too often.
Other than that, I just adored this book and everything about it.
We need more books like this in the world because only when people stop
accepting and perpetuating the same idiotic prejudices and sexism will society
be equal and able to move forwards.
So read The Exact Opposite Of Okay. Read it now.
And then let’s all go for some nachos, because I’ve been craving them
ever since I started this book, and teach the world that Bitches do indeed Bite
Back.
Star Rating:
4½ Out of 5
4½ Out of 5
Read this
book if you liked:
Simon Vs The Homo Sapiens
Agenda by Becky Albertalli
Am I Normal Yet? by Holly
Bourne
Asking For It by Louise O’Neil
Happy Reading
Megan
* This
book was received from Egmont in exchange for an honest review